The Celtics are clearly in a rebuilding mode now after trading Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Doc Rivers for four first round draft picks over the next couple years. Brad Stevens of course was brought on as the new head coach, signing a six year deal. That’s the first reason I like this Under. It’s not like if he signed a 1 or 2 year deal and therefore needs to get as many wins as possible to show his worth to management. Danny Ainge is giving him free reign to try things out, tinker with rotations, etc. If the Celtics go 5-77, he’s still coming back no matter what. He is also the league’s youngest coach. I think it’s reasonable he will make a fair amount of mistakes in his first year.

There are no all star type players in there, and other than Jeff Green, nobody who can consistently get a good shot up with no help. It’s also hard to see these guys protecting the rim well at all. They will have to have excellent ball movement to score and play excellent perimeter defense to stop the other team. These are all “complimentary players” on a good team for now. The exception to all that is Rondo, but it is not clear when he will be back from knee surgery. It is also possible that Danny Ainge will continue the rebuilding process by trading Rondo before the trade deadline.

Speaking of which, I’d expect some of these guys get traded during the season. Teams in contention might be looking for another piece to the puzzle. Ainge will be enticed to trade veterans Wallace, Bogans, Humphries, Crawford, Lee, and Brandon Bass to contenders in exchange for young potential/ draft picks.

Teams with new personnel generally take longer to gel in the first place, and the Celtics have six back 2 backs before December arrives. As we know it doesn’t make a ton of sense to win more games if you aren’t making the playoffs anyways, especially this year with a loaded draft.

Also, after the last half decade of getting bullied by the C’s, I think teams will relish the chance to turn the tables and smoke the Celtics.